Loose Ends
by Nikaya
Summary: Allura decides she wants to clear the air with the Paladins. OR a one-shot I wrote for a fanzine that wasn't accepted. Enjoy!


Allura poked her head into the doorway of the kitchen, her long, white curls swinging in the opening.

Like a surrender flag, Hunk noticed the glaring lack of color. "Hey, what's going on, Allura?"

She pursed her lips before stepping fully into the doorway. She sniffed the air and eyed the pan Hunk was carrying. "Baking something good?"

Hunk smiled. "It was supposed to be a surprise for the team, but I guess that's kinda ruined now." He turned away from her and put the pan in the oven and set the timer.

"Oh, my apologies, Hunk - I just - I wanted to talk to you about something."

He turned back to the counter as Allura took a seat at the bar stool. Hunk pulled off the oven mitts and crossed his arms on the surface. "What's on your mind?"

Allura looked anywhere but directly at the guy in front of her. "I wanted-" She sighed and righted herself, then looked to meet Hunk's gaze. "I wanted to apologize."

Hunk frowned. "What for?"

"I've been thinking lately-" she started. "I think that I may have been a bit hard on everyone when you all first took on the mantle of Paladins of Voltron - especially you."

Hunk's lips quirked up at the corner. "Allura, it's fine. I was being kind of a baby about the whole thing anyway," he said, waving his hand.

"Really," she insisted. "I feel like I owe you the apology. You had a lot on your mind back then."

"It seems like so long ago now," Hunk said with a light chuckle.

"You hadn't even wanted to go in after Shiro, back at the Garrison," she pointed out. Hunk deflated a bit at that. "I – I mean, you weren't ready for an adventure. That was Lance and Pidge…." She shook her head. "You were homesick, you hated the food in the Castle, and you even got motion sickness from piloting the Yellow Lion."

Hunk inhaled and nodded, closing his eyes. "I remember."

"But I continued to push you, hardly giving you so much as a break. And I wanted to tell you - that I'm sorry, Hunk. I'm so sorry for how harshly I treated you. You were so far from home, and I was only thinking of myself and saving the universe. And you've come so far since then. You're an amazing Paladin, and you're a part of my family now, and I just wanted you to know –!"

In her rambling, Allura hadn't noticed Hunk make his way around the counter. He swept her up into a bear hug and squeezed her shoulders, spinning her around. She let out a surprised but pleasant yelp and smiled. "Hunk - I can't breathe -" she said while smiling.

He set her back down on the bar stool and kept his hands on her shoulders. "Allura… thank you. I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too, Hunk."

The timer dinged and Hunk quickly made his way back to the oven, pulling out the pan. Allura sniffed the air again and instantly recognized the scent.

"Hunk! Is that…?"

"An Altean-style pound cake?" he asked, wiggling an eyebrow at her.

She clasped her hands together. "Wonderful!"

…

"What are you up to?" Allura asked. She instantly regretted it.

There was a metallic thunk as Pidge raised her head to see what was going on from under the drone she was currently working on. She emerged, rubbing her head with one hand and fixing her glasses with the other. "Hey, Allura," she said, looking at the other girl once she re-oriented herself.

"Oh, Pidge, I'm so sorry!" she said, rushing over and touching her hand to the other girl's head. "Do you want me to go get some ice?"

Pidge winced. "No, no, it's fine," she said, trying to back away from the culprit. "Did you need something?"

"You seem busy. I can just come back later," she said, turning to leave.

"Allura…." Pidge grumbled.

Allura turned back to the other girl. She looked down at her hands, pressing her index fingers together. "It's just… I feel like I should apologize."

"It was an accident," Pidge said. "Besides, I should've been paying more attention to what I was doing."

"Not for that," Allura said, then quickly added, "well yes, I suppose that too. I meant - I meant to apologize for what happened at that party on Arus."

"With the infiltration?" Pidge asked. "Allura, that wasn't your fault. You were trying to be open to forming alliances."

"Not that," she said. "But you're right. I should have been more careful about protecting the Castle of Lions. We had already known the Galra were after the Lions, and I hadn't so much as provided a preliminary guard."

"Hey," Pidge said, taking a stride closer. She put a hand on Allura's shoulder. "You couldn't have known about the Galra coming back so soon. And we handled it."

"I know - I just -" She stopped and took a breath. "I feel that I was pushing you too hard. Between the mind-melding and trying to pry your secret out of you at the party…. You weren't ready to tell everyone what was going on. And it wasn't my place to make it known."

"Oh!" Pidge replied. She looked away for a moment before settling her gaze on Allura.

"Honestly, it was pretty funny they thought it was my girlfriend."

Allura raised her eyebrows at the younger girl. "It was?"

"Is that what you're apologizing for? Wait! You were trying to get me to tell you at that party?"

Allura nodded. "I didn't think I was being very subtle."

"You most definitely weren't," Pidge said, crossing her arms. "I'm pretty good at playing dumb though."

Allura pursed her lips. "I suppose so."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment longer before both girls burst into laughter. Allura clutched her stomach, practically wheezing. Pidge had tears rolling down her face, swiping them away from under her glasses.

"Glad that's cleared up," Pidge said, flashing Allura a wide grin.

…

"Shiro?" Allura walked out of the elevator doors into the Bridge. Her eyes widened as she looked up at the star map projected in the air.

The commanding officer from the Garrison turned to her with a strained smile. "Allura… something wrong?"

"No, no…." She walked forward and gazed up at the stars beside Shiro. She instantly recognized the galaxy he was looking at. "Homesick?"

Shiro sighed in a way that made Allura feel tired. "Sometimes - Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I was never captured by the Galra."

Allura scoffed. "It's amazing how far their reach is."

Shiro nodded grimly. "I never got a chance to thank you. When you threw me into the pod away from the Galra, I would have been a prisoner - again. I don't know how much more I could have taken from them."

Allura's eyes softened as she continued watching the stars. "Of course, I would, Shiro. I'll always do everything I can to protect you - to protect the team. Voltron is the universe's greatest hope."

He looked down and flexed his right, cybernetic arm. He took a breath. "I've never told you about what my life was like on Earth, have I?"

Allura looked away from the stars to meet Shiro's gaze. His own eyes were soft yet serious. "I suppose not."

He gestured to the platform jutting out from the middle of the room. Shiro sat down and Allura took a spot next to him as they both looked back up at the stars. "I was sick - before I left for the Kerberos mission."

Allura tore her gaze away from the stars and watched Shiro as he spoke, his eyes trained on the projection above them.

"I have a muscular disease. But the Garrison didn't know that until I was already training for the Kerberos mission. I left my boyfriend - Adam - to become a pilot. He didn't want me to go on the Kerberos mission because we didn't know how it would affect me. And when I returned to Earth, I wasn't there very long."

"So - you don't - no one knows what will happen…." Allura said, her voice cracking.

"No. But it doesn't stop me. I won't let the fear stop me from doing what I love. I'll always be a pilot in my heart. And I'll die defending the universe if I have to."

Allura gaped at him as he continued to stare at the stars. The Milky Way was a galaxy that shimmered in color but clouded over with its mist. Its mystery was never known to Allura before she was sealed away in the Castle of Lions for 10,000 years. But now, watching Shiro be the hero he always wanted to be, no matter the cost, the Milky Way was suddenly clear to her; the Milky Way was a galaxy filled with a people that believed in hope.

Allura had no words for Shiro. To her knowledge, Shiro hadn't gotten worse in the time she had known him. But what did she know about his disease? And yet, Shiro had been an incredible leader and driving force behind the rest of the Paladins.

She swallowed before scooting closer to Shiro, and resting her head on his shoulder. He tilted his cheek onto her head. "Shiro?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't always have to be the strong one."

She could feel his face muscles curve into a smile. "Thank you."

...

Allura heard a grunt and a shout as she made her way to the door of the training deck. She poked her head in, watching to see Keith with his jacket on the bench as he slashed at drones with his bayard. Sweat flew from his forehead with the strain.

"Training level five complete. Proceed to level six?"

"I think a break is in order." Allura said, taking a few steps into the room.

Keith turned to see her, his expression softening. "Hey, Allura," he said, clipping his bayard to his belt. He walked over the bench and pressed his water bottle to his lips, taking gulps.

Allura walked over and sat down next to him. "I believe you've accomplished the highest level in this room," she told him.

"I have?" he asked, settling the water bottle down and wiping sweat with a towel.

"Combat-wise, you've definitely trained here the most. Whether or not Shiro actually has more skill in combat, now that's debatable."

Keith chuckled. "That's fair."

"Listen, Keith-"

"Hmm?" he mumbled with the towel on his face.

"I wanted to talk to you - And I feel that I owe you an apology - A _big_ one at that."

Keith lowered the towel and looked at Allura. "What for?"

"Before you even found out you were Galra, I said some pretty harsh things about them. And then they turned out to be your people. I had apologized to you for becoming uneasy around you after you found out- But before - I -" She sighed.

"Allura, it's alright," he said. "I was really desperate to find out about my past, but I think I lost my way when I went to the Blade. I think your questioning made me think hard about who I am - Where I come from."

"It doesn't change the fact that what I said was wrong." She looked down, folding her hands in her lap. "I can't help but feel… as though I helped influence you to leave Voltron for the Blade of Marmora… that maybe I made you feel as though this wasn't your family."

"It doesn't… and it didn't help," he said matter-of-fact. "But your actions still showed that you trusted me. After our pod exploded out in space, you trusted me to grab you in the wreckage before the Red Lion found us. Even after that, you've been a great teammate when I became the Black Paladin. I owe a lot of my decisions to your advice. You wouldn't be there for me that way if you didn't trust me throughout all of that."

She nodded, feeling a little lighter. "But you were always Galra - We just didn't know it. And I'm so very sorry for how I treated you."

Keith put a hand on her shoulder. "We're past that now. You trusted the Blade of Marmora and allowed me to be your leader. We're fine."

The knot in her chest loosened at last. She breathed deeply. "Thank you, Keith. You're right… I always have been able to rely on you."

He smiled at her then stood and held out a gloved hand to her. "Want to join me with a little training?"

She beamed and a determined look crossed her face. "Together."

…

Allura heard the upbeat music down the hallway of the dorms. Her interest peaked, she followed the sound. It led her all the way down to the end, and the door on the left was ajar. She peaked in, and before she could even see what was happening, she felt her hands being tugged into the room.

"Lance!" she let out with a small gasp. "What are you doing?" she said as he spun her gently around.

Lance ignored her annoyance and sang along, "Shut up and dance with me!" he sang with a smile, holding Allura gently. He whispered though, "You don't have to if you're not comfortable though."

Allura laughed as she spun around. "Lance! I didn't know you were such a wonderful dancer!"

"Never really had the chance to show you my moves," he said, dipping her back with his gentle smile.

She laughed. "I'm glad I stumbled upon this then!"

They continued laughing as they leaned on each other for their respective moves until the song ended.

"Yours were - interesting," Lance said with a cheeky grin.

"I'll have you know, I learned the most graceful dancing the universe had to offer in the age of Altea. Politics included dancing from most of the known worlds."

"Apparently they had a thing or two to learn from me." he said with a smirk.

Allura made a noise of disgust, prompting a chuckle from Lance. Allura serious gaze slowly broke and she gave him a smile.

"Allura?"

"Yes Lance?"

"I - I'm really sorry."

She turned to him as she tilted her head to the side. "Whatever for?"

"For a lot," he admitted. "I know that since we met, I came on really strong. I know I annoyed you a lot." He crosses his arms and rubbed at his elbows. "I got really jealous of you and Lotor… and I'm really sorry about what happened. I know you were really hurt, and I feel like I wasn't making it any better."

Allura listened carefully. She looked down but made no motion to stop him and she pursed her lips, considering his words.

"I just want you to know that I never meant to make you uncomfortable and that I'm not just a player or anything. I'm kind of a laughing stock back at the Garrison, if I'm being honest with myself," he said with a low chuckle. "I just wanted you to know that it was just in good fun. I hope - you don't hate me, do you?"

"Lance…." she said, turning to face him more fully. "Were you annoying? Yes, I suppose that is a good word for it. But did you ever hurt my feelings or offend me in any way? No, you most certainly did not," she said, her words sure. "Lotor - was complicated. I suppose it felt more personal with him because he was part Altean. But I don't blame you for your feelings. In fact, I never gave you a fair chance, if I'm being honest with _myself_. I just assumed - I guess you used the word 'player' for that behavior? I didn't know if your feelings were genuine."

"I know. And that's why I wanted to apologize. That happened because I never felt comfortable with what my role in the team was, and I thought that maybe I could have more of a connection with you, at least. And I fell hard - but it wasn't for the right reasons." He looked away from her then.

She stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Lance, for being honest with me. I'm sorry if I hadn't considered your own feelings during all of this."

He looked back up at her upon the touch. "Thank you, Allura. So we're cool?"

She smiled. "We're Voltron; we're all family."


End file.
